318 WILD BEASTS OF THE WOELD 



are these organs well developed in the female, and, as they never 

 occur along with large horns, they appear to be primitive weapons 

 which the more highly organised ruminants have been able to dis- 

 pense with as their horns became more efficient. 



The Indian Mouse-Deer does not measure more than a foot at the 

 shoulder, and is not so big and heavy as a Hare ; its curious olive- 

 brown coat with white spots will > distinguish it from any other 

 animal. :, . ..' , :.:.. ' * 



The colouration, however, recalls that of many*- young Deer fawns, 

 and no doubt is another primitive peculiarity, since the coat or plumage 

 of young beasts and birds often appears to "hark back" to their 

 ancestors. The young Chevrotains, however, are apparently always 

 like their parents, even when these are self-coloured. 



In its habits the Mouse-Deer is singularly unobtrusive ; it is 

 usually solitary and chiefly nocturnal in its habits, so that, although 

 widely spread over Southern India in forest tracts, and also found in 

 Ceylon, it is comparatively very little known. In the daytime it 

 hides, among rocks, and here the doe drops her young, which are 

 usually twins. The gait of the little animal is peculiarly stealthy ; it 

 carries its head low, and steps daintily along on the very tips of its tiny 

 hoofs. Some of the poses of Chevrotains show their primitive char- 

 acter very well ; unlike other ruminants, they sometimes sit up on 

 their haunches like a Cat or a Dbg, and when lying down do not 

 incline to one side, like hoofed animals generally, but rest on a level 

 as it were, with the fore-feet tucked under them. 



This little creature is not very common in captivity, but it has 

 bred in that condition, and has often been exhibited at the London 

 Zoological Gardens, where all the species of the family have been on 

 view at one time or another. Mouse-Deer should be fed and treated 

 much like Rabbits, appreciating such food as salad, sliced carrots 

 and fruit, bran, &c. It is important not to keep them constantly on a 

 hard floor, as- they are subject in that case to enlargement and sore- 

 ness of the hocks, while damp is also injurious to them — at any rate, 

 in the case of the Asiatic species. Except that the males will, as 



